(formal, literary)Friendship. The cooperative and supportive relationship between people, or animals. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, affection, and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis.

1922: To my native place / Bent upon returning, / Bosom all day burning / To be where my race / Well were known, 'twas much with me / There to dwell in amity. — Thomas Hardy, 'Welcome Home,' in Lyrics Late and Earlier, 1922